Trustees Board members

As Chairman of the Rawabi English Academy Board of Trustees, Ms. Abdel Nour brings a wealth of education administration experience to the REA board. She served on the founding committee for REA at the time of its inception while serving as an educational consultant to two schools, The Pioneers Baccalaureate School in Nablus and Al Mustaqbal School in Ramallah.

Prior to her tenure with REA, Ms. Abdel Nour had a long and distinguished career at the Ramallah Friends School.  She served as Principal of the Lower School (grades Pre-K through 6) from 1992 to 2010 as well as Acting Principal in 1991. Prior to assuming the top position at the Lower School, she headed its Mathematics Department for almost a decade.

In addition to her executive roles at RFS, she also served on the Executive Committee of the Upper and Lower Schools (Pre-K through 12) and was a member of its board of trustees for nearly 20 years.

A senior investment manager with over 25 years of expertise, primarily in the private sector. His professional background covers full-cycle investment management, business development, organizational restructuring, and budgeting, in addition to financial analysis, operational and financial management. Furthermore, he is certified as an Islamic Specialist in Capital Markets (2015) with a special interest in Islamic banking and knowledge in shariah-compliant finance.

He has extensive experience helping Multi-Million dollars portfolio firms through strategy design and development, as well as crucial exit negotiations and plans implementation. Nihad worked in various industries including the real estate, finance, tourism, telecommunications, and energy sectors. Nihad serves as a board member for various shareholding companies such as Palestine Exchange, Palestine Real Estate Investment Co, and others. He is an expert in connecting various investment components within subsidiaries to the overall investment strategy of the firm and in assisting the company's investment decisions.

Nihad Holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Amman University (1994). In addition to a CPA certificate from the United States (2005), he is a Certified Investment Manager by Jordan Securities Commission (2009).

Ms. Hamad has worked throughout her career to build institutional capacity within Palestinian organizations through projects with measurable, sustainable impact. She has served for more than a decade as General Manager of the Paltel Group Foundation (PGF), an independent, non-profit entity working to spur innovation and development in education and ICT in targeted areas with financing from the Paltel Group.

Ms. Hamad has long focused on entrepreneurship, developing the Paltel Group’s strategic plan for a project pipeline for tech entrepreneurs and start-ups. She was instrumental in the creation of the Innovation Center, a vital education and technical resource for new enterprises, along with an investment fund for seed capital. 
  
Prior to her tenure with the PGF, Ms. Hamad worked for ten years in various capacities at local and international organizations in Palestine, developing a wealth of experience in project development and management, public and NGO administration and private sector corporate social responsibility.
 
Ms. Hamad holds a Bachelor of Arts in Process/Chemical Engineering from the University of Technology (1998) and an MBA from Liverpool University/UK (2002).  She also holds a certificate in Project Management from the Project Management Institute in the US as well as a mini-MBA in Telecom from Informa/George Washington University, Washington, DC. Ms. Hamad also holds certificates in entrepreneurship and innovation. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Business Administration in the UK, with an expected degree date in 2020

With over 20 years of experience in Operations and Project Management, Private Sector Development, Entrepreneurship, and Aid management. Currently, she is serving as an Advisor to the Minister of Education on Education in Emergencies and International Cooperation. She is also the Founder of FORWARD, a social enterprise specialized in providing solutions to organizations in immediate and long-term challenges applying the Best International Practices. Previously, Rula was the Programs Director at the Welfare Association (Taawon) in Palestine, where she managed an annual budget of $50 Million Dollars in Human Development, Economy, and Culture Preservation.  On the International and regional level, Rula was the Director of Country Operations at Silatech, an International NGO focused on Youth Development, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development in the Middle East and North Africa region in which she has managed multi-million-dollar budget, oversaw the operations in twenty-two Arab countries, developed countries’ strategies in Youth, Entrepreneurship, and Employment.

An Entrepreneur herself, Ms. Shunnar co-founded a start-up in Palestine specialized in renewable energy solutions. Sunergy is now considered the second largest renewable energy company in Palestine.

In 2010, she served as the Senior Advisor to the Palestinian Minister of National Economy on Private Sector Development and International Aide, where she institutionalized the International Cooperation process by establishing a unit for Aid Management at the Ministry and created the Standards of Procedures and built the capacity of the Ministry’s staff.

Abroad, Ms. Shunnar worked as a project leader at the Dow Chemical Company in Houston-TX, where she was responsible for various sites in California, Canada, and Michigan. She led the strategic marketing unit at Dynamic Fluid Measurement company, a Houston based oil and Gaz company, upon her graduation from university.

Rula holds an MBA in International Business from the University of St. Thomas and a B.Sc. in Computer Information System from the University of Houston, TX.  Her extensive work with US and international organizations has enabled her to acquire knowledge in multicultural business and work environments and enriched her diverse experience. 

As an expert in Private Sector Development, Ms. Shunnar has chaired and participated in sessions on Youth, Technology, Innovation in Education, and Entrepreneurship, and family business in various conferences in the US, Europe, and Palestine.

Currently, Ms. Shunnar serves as a board member at Najah University, Palestine Deposit Insurance Corporation, a member of the General Assembly of the Pioneers Baccalaureate Academy in Nablus.

Ms. Tarazi is a senior lecturer and former chair of the Department of Languages and Translation at Birzeit University in Palestine. She helped found the university’s new English language major five years ago and has dedicated her career to quality teacher training and improving methodologies for the teaching of English as a foreign language at all levels of education. She has participated in a number of key conferences globally and regionally in her areas of expertise.

Ms. Tarazi holds a B.A. in English and Education from the American University of Beirut, as well as a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and TEFL from Leeds University in the U.K.

Ehab Khaldi is the Head of Technology at Bayti Real Estate Development Company. Ehab has a considerable general and innovation management, consulting, and enterprise development experience. Ehab has gained diverse sectoral expertise over the past 20 years undertaking key roles in new industries. Responsible in many of his positions for developing, motivating, and managing multi-disciplinary teams, introducing new modalities in accelerating sectors, such as Smart Cities, AI, and Business Intelligence.
Ehab is a board member of Rawabi Foundation, a non-profit aiming to promote the city’s model for social, cultural, and economic development; a live embrace of entrepreneurship and innovation which preserves Palestine’s unique heritage. He is also a board member of United Securities, which offers trading services in the Palestine Exchange, DFX, ADX, NASDAQ, and other foreign markets.

Ms. Mira Sabat accumulates over 18 years of experience in International Development, working with international and local organizations, and managing a portfolio of economic development projects in entrepreneurship and employment, agriculture, renewable energy, technology, and innovation across Palestine. 
 
Throughout her career, Ms. Sabat built an extensive experience in promoting sustainable economic growth, gender equality, inclusion, access to technical and vocational education, and economic opportunities, in addition to results-based management. She currently serves as an International Development Officer, at the Representative Office of Canada to the Palestinian Authority. 
 
 Previously, Ms. Sabat managed programming that aimed to enhance Palestinians’ access to justice including Canada’s Courthouse Construction Project in Tulkarem and Hebron. 
 
 Ms. Sabat holds a Master's degree in International Cooperation and Development from Bethlehem University in cooperation with the University of Pavia, Italy, and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Business Administration from Birzeit University.